Means for generating electricity from machinery of locomotives



no. s|1,|a7. Patented Ian. 3, I899.

' H. F. RCACII.

MEANS FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY FROM MACHINERY 0F LOCOMOTIVES.

(Application filed Oct. 10, 1896.;

(No Modal.) 4 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. s|7, |a7. Patent ad m. 3,1899.

u. r; ROACH.

MEANS FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY FROM MACHINERY OF LOCOMOTIVES.

(Application filed Oct. 10, 1898.; (No Model.) 4 Sheets-M0012.

m5 Nonms PETERS co. PHOITO-LITNDU WASHINGTON, n, c.

O No. 6l7,l87.

Patented Jan. 3, I899.

H. F. ROAOH. MEANS FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY FROM MACHINERY OF LOCOMOTIVES.

(Application filed Oct. 10, 1898.;

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

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No. 6|7,|87. Patented Ian. 3, I899.

H. F. ROACH. MEANS FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY FROM MACHINERY OF LOCOMOTIVES.

(Application mad Oct. 10, 1898., (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 (1%??? I five/1% I Z rm: Noam: PETER$ co. Puomumm msumsmn. u c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY F. ROACII, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MEANS FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY FROM MACHINERY OF LOCOMOTIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,187, dated January 3, 1899-.

Application filed October 10, 1898. Serial No. 693,133. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY F. ROACH, a citizen of the United States, residingin the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for Generating Electricity from the Machinery of Locomotives, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved means for generating electricity from the machinery of alocomotive, together with the cross-heads and main frame of a locomotive. Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the same, the guides for the cross-heads being added and parts being broken away to more clearly illustrate the invention. Fig. 3 is an end elevational view, partly in section, of the same. Fig. ails in part a side sectional view of an apparatus for automatically maintaining the direction of the current irrespective of the direction of the rotation of the armature-that is, the current is caused to flow in one direction from the dynamo while the armature may rotate in either direction-and in part a vertical sectional view of the slidevalve and easing employed in carrying out the above. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. (3 is a perspective or isometric view of the switch employed in carrying out my invention, together with a diagrammatic illustration of a dynamo and the proper wiring connecting said dynamo with said switch; and Figs. '7 and 8 illustrate in plan and side elevation, respectively, a modified form of means for generating electricity, &c., by utilizing the power furnished by the axle of a locomotive. Fig. 9 is aside elevational view of a locomotive, showing my improved apparatus for generating electricity mounted in position thereon, together with the means for reversing the current flowing there from to the storage battery or circuit.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in means for generating electricity from the machinery of a locomotive, and has for its object to provide a simple, reliable, and effective construction of said means whereby a current of electricity will be generated by a d ynamo,the same to be used for lighting, heating, or operating motors, or for any other purposes desired, upon a locomotive or any of its drawn coaches or cars, as is obvious.

The essential features of this invention reside, first, in the novel location and mounting upon and insulating from the main frame of a locomotive of a dynamo or dynamos; second, in the novel mechanism employed, wherein rotary motion is imparted to the armature or armatures of a dynamo or dynamos from the machinery of the locomotive; third, in the novel construction employed whereby the current of electricity is caused to travel through a storage battery or batteries in one direction only regardless of the direction in which the locomotive is moving-- that is, backward or forward--and, finally, the invention consists in the novel arrange ment, construction, and combination of the several parts, all as will hereinafter be described and afterward pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, A indicates a portion of the main framing of a locomotive, B the crosshead guides secured thereto, 0 the cross-head, and D the piston-rod, all of said parts being of old and well-known construction.

E indicates a dynamo or dynamos, the field of which is in part preferably bolted or otherwise-secured to the main frame A and in part preferably mounted upon the axle-shaft.

F indicates the armature or armatures, located in the usual manner within the field magnets of said dynamo or dynamos, said armature or armatures being mounted upon a suitable shaft G, said shaft being in turn mounted in suitable bearings g, secured to the main frame A.

II and 11 indicate suitable erankarms secured one on each end to the shaft G and are preferably arranged in relation to each other at an angle of about ninety degrees apart.

I indicates a bracket or support preferably secured to or mounted on the frame-braee A, said bracket being arranged conveniently close to the dynamo or dynamos and their cooperating parts, said brackets being provided with an arm or lever i, pivoted thereto, and at a suitable distance from the pivot-point of said lever i is pivotally connected one end of a connecting-rod 'i, and the other end of said rod i is pivotally connected to a cross-head t', which slides in suitable guides 2", secured to a suitable frame or stand '5', said crosshead being connected to the crank II by alink t'"'.

It will be understood that the means em ployed for transmitting rotary motion to the shaft G and its carried armature or armatures is duplicated upon each side of the locomotive, the only difference being that as the crank-arms II and II are, as before stated, arranged relative to each other at about an angle of ninety degrees apart-,or exactly the same angle as are the crank-pins on the opposite driving-wheels of the same axle of the locomotive, the cooperating mechanism of these crank-arms will occupy changed positions with respect to each other-that is, when the crank II is in an upward vertical position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the lever i will be practically vertical, and when in this position the crank II is in the position shown by dotted lines or to the right. Consequently the short member of the lever 2', which cooperates therewith through the intermediacy of the connecting-rod z", cross-head i, and link i will also be to the right, while the long member of lever i will be to the left, as shown.

The mechanism on each side of the locomotive being identical or in duplicate, it is deemed unnecessary in this description to refer to the duplicate parts in plural, it being understood that as there are two crank-arms II and II there must be two brackets I, two arms t', and two cross-heads i, two connectingrods t", and two links 1, as well as two link-connecting rods hereinafter described, which transmit motion to the said mechanism from the cross-head C.

'i indicates a link-connecting red, one end of which is pivotally secured to the outer or free end of the lever i, and the other end of said rod 'i' is pivotally connected in any convenient place to the cross-head 0. Thus it will be clearly understood that when the cross-head reciprocates in the guides B the link t'" causes the arm '1? to rock upon its pivot-point, which in turn causes the connecting-rod t" to impart rotary motion to the crank II and the shaft G, and as the arrangement of these cranks is at an angle of ninety degrees apart no dead-centercan occur, as when one crank reaches a dead central position the other of said cranks is either pushing or pulling, as the case may be, as is usual in mechanism of this character, where momentum is unreliable.

As before stated, the dynamo or dynamos are mounted upon and insulated from the main frame or other suitable part of a locomotive, and while this statement is true as far as it goes a more detailed description is necessary, as in reality the field or fields of said dynamo or dynamos are provided upon their outer edges with suitable lugs e, which rest upon and are preferably bolted to said main frame,while the inner faces of said dynamo or dynamos are supported by the armature-shaft G, and in order to eliminate as much friction as possible at this supportingpointthat is, the point of the field which rests upon the armature-shaft-I secure upon said armature-shaft suitable collars g, provided with circumferential grooves for the reception of steel balls g, and upon the portion 6 of the field or fields of the dynamo or dynamos I provide grooves correspondingly arranged to the groove of the collar g, said grooves also receiving the balls g, and when the armature-shaft is revolving it will obviously assist in supporting said fields upon a practical antifriction ball -bearing, as is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.

In Figs. 7and 8 I have illustrated a slightlymodified means for imparting rotary motion to the armature and its supporting-shaft wherein I have properly secured upon the axle O of the driving-wheels of the locomotive two eccentrics 0 and 0, arranged at an angle of ninety degrees apart, and upon the armature-shaft G are secured and arranged at the same relative distance apart two eccentrics 0 and 0. 0"and 0indicate eccentric-rods, together with their carried straps, which connect the eccentrics o and 0 and o and 0, respectively. Ihus it will be seen that the rotary motion of the axle imparts rotary motion to the armature-shaft G, thereby accomplishing the same object as was accomplished by the mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

In order to maintain a continuous How of current for use upon alocomotive or its drawn coaches orcars when theloeomotive is brought to a stop, I provide a suitable storage battery or batteries, located in any convenient place upon the train, for receiving and storing the electrical energy, said battery or batteries being of sufficient capacity to supply the current desired for a reasonable length of timesay six or eight hoursand as storage batteries always receive a current of electricity in one direction it is essential that I provide means whereby when the locomotive is traveling in either direction said current will always travel in one direction, and to accomplish this I have arranged, preferably in the cabin of the locomotive, a switch K, operated indirectly by the reverse-lever L or its connecting parts to and including the link-shaft.

Mindicatesa suitable steam or compressedair chest provided therein with a slide-valve m, cooperating with suitable ports m and in for the admission and exhaust of the steam or other fluid for a like purpose, said slidevalve being operated, preferably, by a rodand-link connection to said reversing-lever. m' indicates a suitable cylinder, preferably formed on or secured to said chest M, and is provided with suitable ports m and m", preferably near its ends, connecting with the interior of said chest, said ports being so arranged as to admit pressure of steam or the time"? like to one side or the other of a suitable piston m, located within said cylinder, it being understood that when one port admits pressure the other port exhausts, as is usual. m indicates a piston-rod secured to said piston, and its free or outer end is provided with a link connection m pivotally connected to the pivoted tongue or arm 7c of the switch K.

The object of interposing the valve-casing M and its respective parts between the reverse-lever L or its connecting parts to and including the link-shaft and the switch K is to cause the switch-tongue to be thrown its full stroke in one position or the other automatically by the manipulation of the reverselever in either direction regardless of the number of degrees each side of a central position that said reverse-lever is moved; or, in other words, if the reverse-lever is moved only one notch in either direction it will be sufficient to move the slide-valve m sufficiently far to admit steam or other fluid through one or the other of the ports m or 'm and at the same time effect the proper exhaust that is, if pressure is admitted through port m, 'm communicates with the exhaust, or vice versaand when the pressure fluid is thus permitted to pass through either of said ports it will be permitted to exert pressure to one side or the other of the piston-head m throughone or the other of the ports m or m"" and through the intermediacy of the piston-rod and connecting-rod throw the tongue It the full limit of the movement required to cause it to contact with one side or the other of the switch K By the construction of the valve m and its casing M it will be seen that when the above is accomplished by only moving the reverse-lever one notch further movement of said lever may be subsequently made in the same direction without changing the existing relations of the admission and exhaust ports with reference to the piston m", or the full limit of the movement of the reverse-lever may be made in the same direction as it started in, which only draws the slide-valve away from the admission-port and continues to allow the exhaust-port to communicate with the interior of said slide-valve, which in turn communicates with the atmosphere. The above is accomplished by simply constructing the casing M sufficiently long to allow the slidevalve or to move the full limit of the stroke of the reverse-lever, the same being very clearly shown in Fig. 4.

Switch K is best shown in its details in Fig. 6, wherein it will be seen to consist of a V-shaped frame, comprising the side plates 70 and 7s", properly distanced apart by the insulated bars 70". A movable switch-tongue 7c is pivoted at the apex of this frame and properly insulated therefrom. It is deemed unnecessary to catalogue here the several switchblades arranged on this tongue and frame, as they will be more properly brought out in the description of the operation of this switch,

which is as follows: As stated before, the special function of this switch is to maintain the proper polarity at the binding-posts 1 and 6, from which lead the supply and return wires X and Y, respectively, to and from the storage battery or circuit to be energized by the electricity developed in the dynamo. This polarity of these binding-posts should be maintained irrespective of direction of travel of the engine and consequent rotation of the armature of the dynamo. hen the armature is rotating in one direction, the brush 1 is positive, while 6 is negative, and vice versa. It is accordingly necessary to change the connections of brushes 1 and 6 to posts 1 and 6, respectively, depending upon the direction of rotation of the armature that is, if brush 1 is connected to post 6 and the post 1 is connected to brush 6 while the armature is rotating in a given direction it will be necessary to change this order when the armature rotates in an opposite direction to maintain the flow of current through the circuit leading from the binding-posts 1 and 6, and this is done by connecting brush 6 to post 6" and post 1 to brush 1. The manner in which this is accomplished is as follows: Assuming the switch-tongue to be down, the current will start, say, from brush 1 and pass through wire 2 to contact 3, thence to contact 20 and along the tongue 71" to contacts 19 and 16, and through wire 15 to binding-post 6, to which is connected the supply-wire X for the circuit. After passing through the circuit, which includes the lamps, storage battery, &c., the return-wire Y leads the current back to post 1. From 1 the current passes through wire 11, contacts 12 and 21, along tongue 70 to contacts 22 and 8, and back through wire 7 to brush 6. XVhen the armature is rotating in an opposite direction and the switch-tongue is thrown in its other position, we will assume in an upward position to comply with the illustration of Fig. 6, the current will start at brush 6, through wire '7 to contact 8, through wire 9, contacts 10 and 22, along the tongue 7t to contacts 21 and 18, through wires 17 to contact 16, and through wire 15 to binding-post 6, whence the current passes onto and through the circuit through wire X, returning through wire Y to bindingpost 1. From binding-post 1 the current passes through wire 11 to contact 12, through wire 13 to contacts 14: and 19, along the switch-tongue It to contacts 20 and 5, whence it returns through wire 1 to contact 3, and through wire 2 to brush 1.

It will of course be understood that the direction of movement of the mechanism of the locomotive proper through the instrumentality of the fluid-thrown switch-tongue controlled by the reverse-lever properly. positions switch-tongue 76, according to the direc tion of rotation of the armature, and coincidentally with the reversal of the driving power of the locomotive, which likewise reverses the rotation of the armature,the switch lIO tongue will be thrown to its other position to change the polarity of the circuit at the binding-posts l and G.

I am aware that many minor changes in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of my apparatus can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a means for generating electricity from the machinery of a locomotive, the combination of a dynamo or dynamos mounted upon the frame of a locomotive, cranks or eccentries mounted on the armature-shaft of said dynamo or dynamos, said cranks or eccentrics being arranged on said armature-shaft at an angle with relation to each other, and means connected to the cross-head of said 10- comotive and said cranks or eccentrics for converting the reciprocatory motion of said crosshead into rotary motion of said armatureshaft, substantially as described.

2. I11 a means for generating electricity from the machinery of a locomotive, the combination of a dynamo or dynamos, mounted upon the frame of a locomotive, cranks or eccentries, mounted on the armature-shaft of said dynamo or dynamos, said cranks or eccentrics being arranged on said armature-shaft at an angle with relation to each other, a guide mounted on said frame, a cross-head mounted in said guide, a support mounted upon said frame, a lever pivoted to said support, a link for connecting one end of said lever to said cross-head, and means connecting the other end of said lever to said cranks or eccentrics secured to said armature-shaft, whereby the reciprocatory motion of the cross-head is converted into rotary motion of said armatureshaft, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the main frame of a locomotive, of a dynamo mounted thereon, cranks or eccentrics secured to the armatureshaft of said dynamo, a guide mounted on said main frame, a cross-head mounted in said guide, a support secured to said main frame, a lever pivoted to said support, means for connecting one end of said lever to said cross-head, a second guide mounted on said main frame, a second cross-head mounted in said second guide, a link connecting the other end of said lever with said second cross-head, and a connecting-rod secured to said second cross-head and said cranks or eccentrics secured to said armature-shaft, whereby the reciprocatory motion of said first-mentioned cross-head is converted into rotary motion of said armature-shaft, substantially as described.

l. In combination with a locomotive, of a dynamo or dynamos supported upon the framing thereof, means for revolving the armature of said dynamo or dynamos by the moving parts of the locomotive, a switch, and means cooperating with the reverse-lever of the locomotive, for automatically operating said switch, whereby, when the reverse-lever is moved in one direction or the other, which movement reverses the movement of the armature of said dynamo or dynamos, said switch will be actuated in the proper direction to cause a current of electricity to flow from said dynamo or dynamos always in one direction, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the reverse-lever of a locomotive, or its connecting parts to and including, the link-shaft, of a switch operated thereby, and means for causing said switch to effect a contact in one or the other of its two positions, depending upon the direction in which said reverse-lever is thrown, regardless of the amount of throw given said reverse-lever, substantially as described.

6. In combination with the reverse-lever of a locomotive, or its connecting parts to, and including, the link-shaft, of a valve operated thereby, a casing for said valve, ports in said casing, a cylinder secured to said casing, ports arranged in said cylinder,and communicating with the first-mentioned ports, a piston arranged in said cylinder, a piston-rod connected to said piston, a switch, and a connecting-rod connecting said switch and said piston-rod, substantially as described.

7. In combination with the reverse-lever of a locomotive or its connecting parts to, and including, the link-shaft, of a valve operated thereby, a casing for said valve, said valve being so proportioned and arranged that the initial or final stroke of said reverse-lever in either direction,will permit said valve to open a proper port to pressure fluid, and close aproper port to pressure fluid, and, at the same time, effect the proper exhaust of said lastmentioned port, said open port for pressure fluid and said exhaust-port being permitted to so remain regardless as to whether the reverse-lever has moved to its maximum position or to its minimum position, a cylinder and piston arranged in said casing, a switch, and means for connecting said switch and said piston, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. The herein-described switch, the same consisting of two or more parallel inverted- V-shaped plates,separated and insulated from each other by suitable distance-pieces, contacts arranged on said plates, a tongue pivoted to, and insulated from, the apex of said plates, contacts arranged on said tongue, and wires connected to said plates, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

9. In a means for generating electricity from the machinery of a locomotive, the combination of a dynamo or dynamos suitably mounted upon the locomotive, of cranks or eccentrics mounted upon the armature-shaft of said dynamo or dynamos, said cranks or eccentrics being arranged on said armatureshaft at an angle With relation to each other, means connected to the moving parts of the locomotive and said cranks or eccentrics, for imparting rotary motion to said armatureshaft, a fluid-thrown switch in the circuit, and means connected to and controlled by the reverse-lever of the locomotive, for actuating said fluid-thrown switch Whenever the direction of rotation of the armature is changed, 10 substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in the presence of two Witnesses, this 7th day of October, 1898.

HARRY F. ROAOH.

Vitnesses:

HUGH K. WAGNER, RALPH KALIsH. 

